Goldsmith at 20th - New series of releases by La-La Land!!!

[Faleel 5,347]

2 hours ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Your “joke” also just doesn’t make sense; I didn’t spreadsheet shit on Prudence and the Chief. All I did was list my three favorite highlights of the more unique material.

Spreadsheet = list

"Few moments in between repetitions" = "three favorite highlights of more unique material"

 

I guess.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

Yeah. Spreadsheets are comprehensive. My list of favorite previously unreleased cues from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was closer to that; it was hard to leave off any of the new cues honestly!

 

But with Prudence and the Chief I really was just trying to focus on a modest three unique highlights and not indulge further — the literal opposite of making a spreadsheet. If I DID make a spreadsheet there would have been far more unique moments that didn’t use the modified Lonely Indian theme from Rio Conchos OR the main theme that Rio Lobo later reused. But I guess to make a dismissive joke, Publicist wants everyone to believe I listed literally the only three unique cues in the score. 🤷🏻‍♂️ 

 

Yavar

[Jay 37,353]

So I'm really slow on the uptake, but was just going through my CD shelf and realized that the spine art of the first 4 volumes of this (I haven't bought 5 yet) form a picture if lined up next to each other.  Anybody else notice this?

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

Neat catch of a nice and subtle design touch from Jim Titus!

 

It’s evoking the 20th Century Fox floodlights…

 

Yavar

[Jay 37,353]

Yea!

[Brundlefly 2,385]

They are placed in my shelf in chronological order of the score's release dates (the oldest score on each set is decisive), so no, I didn't notice that.

[Jay 37,353]

I put together a google doc showing everything Jerry did for 20th Century Fox (there's one tab for film and one tab for TV)

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FqKNbhT8cylTIFNSrB_R2QgYFtzNH3P8Ey_Vvd0j5hM

 

It looks like there's a lot of scores he did for 20th still awaiting a definitive edition, potentially through this LLL series!

 

What are people here most hopeful for?

 

 

Thank you to @Yavar Moradi for correcting some of my mistakes in my initial version of the doc

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

No problem! Sorry for forgetting to get back to you with more detailed corrections! I’ll try to do that today or tomorrow. One thing I can tell you off the bat is that Only in America (aka The Best of Times) is not “definitive” on the LLL because it’s only four short cues totaling 2 minutes — not the complete score, but only what could be pulled clean from the combined final film audio. Maybe a music-only source could turn up some day, or maybe the complete score could be reconstructed and re-recorded, but this was the best that could be had for now.

 

Yavar

[1977 1,743]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

It looks like there's a lot of scores he did for 20th still awaiting a definitive edition, potentially through this LLL series!

 

What are people here most hopeful for?

 

I wouldn't be averse to a re-issue of sorts via this series of LLL's The Edge, although it sadly won't afford an opportunity to right the wrongs of the artwork on their first release.

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

I would love LLL to bring back The Edge and a new Chain Reaction would be more than welcome. Of course all those scores should always be in print for new fans

[Brundlefly 2,385]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

I put together a google doc showing everything Jerry did for 20th Century Fox (there's one tab for film and one tab for TV)

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FqKNbhT8cylTIFNSrB_R2QgYFtzNH3P8Ey_Vvd0j5hM

 

It looks like there's a lot of scores he did for 20th still awaiting a definitive edition, potentially through this LLL series!

 

What are people here most hopeful for?

 

 

Thank you to @Yavar Moradi for correcting some of my mistakes in my initial version of the doc

Oh god, with more and more presumedly Varese title getting into other labels' hands, I am hoping for a re-release of Fate Is the Hunter/Shock Treatment, a definitive release of The Mephisto Waltz/The Other and a definitive release of Damien: Omen II/The Final Conflict!

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

Varese definitely has no control over Fate Is the Hunter or Shock Treatment. But LLL seems to not want to repeat previous pairings so it probably won’t be those two together again. Other film scores which could be newly reissued to pair with them separately: Stagecoach (more than a decade since their previous version came out, much longer than since the last The Blue Max), Morituri (the Intrada has been OOP for a year now), Justine (if only the film recording, hopefully expanded), The Artist Who Did Not Want to Paint (Varese put it out twice… way back in 2004!), or possibly whatever cues are surviving in music only form from The Chairman (the Twilight Time Blu-ray iso score track had a couple extra cues I think, compared with what’s been released on album).

Yavar

[Jay 37,353]

Shock Treatment / Fate Is The Hunter was released by Intrada, not Varese, so presumably any label could revisit either score.  The Intrada edition is completely OOP.

 

I think it's assumed Varese has perpetuity on The Mephisto Waltz and The Other, but I dunno if there's a way to be sure of that.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

8 hours ago, Jay said:

I think it's assumed Varese has perpetuity on The Mephisto Waltz and The Other, but I dunno if there's a way to be sure of that.

Well, you could get it straight from the horse’s mouth, from this 2018 conversation I had with Bruce Kimmel:

https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/902063-odyssey-interviews-bruce-kimmel
 

He produced the original twofer (as well as the Flints and Planet of the Apes I believe) with Nick Redman when he was working at Varese Sarabande in the 90s. At the time he didn’t realize the regular Varese arrangements of the time would result in them getting perpetuity rights. The Other is a favorite of his so he looked into expanding it on his own Kritzerland label many years later, and only realized then that he’d essentially prevented it himself by making that album happen at Varese so many years before.

 

And Roger at Intrada confirmed that the two Flint scores done as a twofer around the same time are in the same boat.

 

Yavar

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

On 21/10/2022 at 4:31 PM, Yavar Moradi said:

I'm super interested to hear what other folks here think about this diverse set of wonderful scores, so I guess I'm going to get the ball rolling here with my own ranking of favorites released on this set... I look forward to others keeping that ball rolling if possible!

@Amer now that you have this set I’d love to know your ranking/favorite things on it!

 

By the way, RIP Topol, who we touch on with Mike Mattesino early in our Spotlight on this release:

https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/11302249
 

Yavar

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

That score is a neglected Goldsmith gem - if nothing else at least for this track:

 

[Amer 2,104]

19 hours ago, Yavar Moradi said:

@Amer now that you have this set I’d love to know your ranking/favorite things on it!

 

By the way, RIP Topol, who we touch on with Mike Mattesino early in our Spotlight on this release:

https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/11302249
 

Yavar Its in transit  to me. a few more weeks max!

 

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

On 21/10/2022 at 4:31 PM, Yavar Moradi said:

I'll make a follow up post later ranking the remaining four titles on this set.

 

WHOOPS! I only just realized that I did this on the FSM board thread, but not here! So here's a quick cut-and-paste of my thoughts on other four scores on this set besides my three favorites, detailed here:

 

Once again, I'm including the fantastic custom cover art by @Steffromuk. In fourth place...

 

4. A GIRL NAMED SOONER (1975) -- This was Goldsmith's second to last TV movie before Contract on Cherry Street (Masada being a miniseries, of course), and frankly I think it's indistinguishable from a feature film score. It's the most substantial single score on this set, in terms of length (Anna and the King is longer but that's technically three different scores). And unlike my friend Schiffy, the more I listen to it the more I seem to enjoy its simple pleasures. Gentle harmonica (the great Tommy Morgan, RIP), lovely delicate woodwind writing, and some soaring strings (in typical Goldsmithian fashion, the cue "There's A Difference" for instance)... it may not *quite* reach the heights of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, for me, but it's still just *gorgeous* and it's nice to hear it sounding better than ever thanks to Chris Malone.

And I think there's a decent amount of variety in this score, honestly! The harmonica gets downright playful at times. There are some lively moments -- "The Town" is just wonderful, if brief. The playful woodwinds in "Jump Rope"! And of course there are some contemplative/pained/sad/melancholy cues too, like "Late Hours" and "No Excuse" and "No Bird". The latter in particular is a little standalone showcase for my favorite element of the score: a super beautiful, super sad secondary theme which runs throughout the score, and eclipses the main theme in my affection. "Everything Changes" is a wonderful conclusion to the score, even though Chris sadly couldn't overcome a moment or two where it gets too "hot". This is a score which perhaps doesn't grab you right away like my top three from my previous post (or its FSM partner, The Flim-Flam Man), but it's really wonderful in its own right if you give it a chance to grow on you.

Next up in fifth place is a dynamite 10.5 minutes!

 

 

5. NICK QUARRY (1968) -- It amazes me that Goldsmith wrote something so fun and almost...inspired...sounding, for this throwaway assignment. It wasn't even a full pilot episode! It was a mere "demonstration reel"... a demo for a demo, essentially! The star Tony Scotti had only acted in one thing before (Valley of the Dolls), and didn't act in anything(!) after... but he did go on to create the Scotti Bros. record label which released at least one Goldsmith score, so that's a funny connection! And this score... it's insubstantial, but it holds together as a listen *really* well and it's a lot of fun. If you like the action in the Flint scores you'll love this. It's just not quite as memorable as my next pick...

 

 

6. ROOM 222 (1969) -- Choosing whether to rank this higher or lower than Nick Quarry was honestly tough. I *love* the theme Goldsmith wrote for this hit series -- in all its incarnations (including the new shorter one that's been added to this set which FSM left off!) The problem is that the scores are so insubstantial with such bitty short cues there isn't really room for him to develop his thematic material the way it really deserves. FSM gathered Jerry's two complete scores for the series into suites, which run 4 minutes and 3.5 minutes respectively...and they each contain a bunch of cues! Obviously Jerry did what the series required but to not even have one cue that's more lengthy and developed is frustrating. The theme is catchy and iconic and more memorable than anything in Nick Quarry (or even A Girl Named Sooner) but the score proper doesn't have anything as interesting as those two...hence its ranking near the bottom. Speaking of which...

 

 

7. ONLY IN AMERICA (aka THE BEST OF TIMES) (1974) -- I feel bad ranking this exciting premiere so low. I really do! But if I penalized Room 222 for being insubstantial, I *really* can't rank this higher! Once again, the theme is BRILLIANT! Perfectly encapsulates (in under a minute!) the premise of a Jewish immigrant coming to America. You've got trademark Jerry Americana brass, paired deftly with playful klezmer-sounding stuff. And it's wonderful. But alas, unlike every other project on this great set, all that survived in the Fox archives was the combined film audio. So this is a rare case where we can't fairly judge Goldsmith's work, honestly... because this isn't all (or even most) of it! What we have is a 55 second Main Title which is brilliant, a slightly different 41 second End Title (also brilliant, though briefer), and a combined 27 seconds of opening and closing bumper cues. Everything else presumably had dialogue or sound effects along with the music, and was understandably unsuitable for inclusion on this collection. Perhaps one day Leigh Phillips will visit UCLA, view the episode, transcribe the rest of the score by ear, and produce a new recording of the whole thing. But until that day, what exists on this collection (and I'm so grateful to have it, don't get me wrong!) is just a tease, with little weight or development to it.

 

Ironically, the title which was most surprising and exciting to me (because I had never heard a note of it) ended up being the biggest disappointment/frustration of the set, through no fault of the producers!

 

But let's be honest and end on a high note: this entire collection is still wonderful and a must-buy!

 

Yavar

 

P.S. Thanks again steffromuk for the awesome individual covers!

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

On 30/11/2020 at 9:41 PM, Yavar Moradi said:

3/14/66      The Legend of Jesse James "Things Just Don't Happen" (This unreleased western TV show -- though UCLA has copies of the entire single season run I think -- is supposed to feature a single Goldsmith score for this episode.)

 

Update on this: my intel had been incorrect that this was the episode of the series scored by Goldsmith. A friend of mine viewed the episode at UCLA a few months ago and confirmed it was scored by Alexander Courage instead.

And just today, Jon Burlingame kindly informed me that, based on music editor Len Engel's logs, the correct episode scored by Goldsmith was "The Man Who Was", which aired 12/13/1965. The episode exists in the UCLA Film and Television Archive for anyone interested to view it:
https://search.library.ucla.edu/permalink/01UCS_LAL/1hnia1h/alma99762153506533

Here's hoping the score can turn up in the Fox archives, and be included on a future Goldsmith at 20th volume from La-La Land...

Yavar